So, the gun goes off and immediately I get to the front. It's Lacey and I, you would think DWAI, no problems. However, I felt like I was working about 10 times harder going up the opening hill than he was. Every step felt like I was running through the ball cage at McDonalds. Meanwhile, I looked over at Matthew and he was fast. I was dying at 400m IN!!!!! About 200m later (600m), we worked our way down hill and I struggled to fully catch up. 600m IN!!!!! At this point I knew I was in trouble. However, I also knew I was in shape and just tried to get one stride where things felt right. I followed Lacey all the way to the mile mark in about 5:07. He was probably 2 seconds ahead at that point. The next thing I knew, the race had completely slipped away.
For those of you who don't know, Grafton's weird and difficult first mile is followed up by a fast downhill mile. If played well, 4:50 is really not a big deal. Well, on Saturday, it was huge. I had nothing. I immediately had to change my outlook and focus on maintaining second place. I had nothing left in the tank, so this was going to be a problem. Slowly but surely a pack of dudes were hawking me down. I made it to the two mile mark and could feel them breathing down my neck. I made it another quarter of a mile before they actually caught me.
To my surprise it was new Alumni Dave Sorensen ('08) and Tufts Captain Nick Welch ('10). This was awesome. After spending five seconds feeling sorry for myself I remembered that Sorensen was my teammate. I looked at him and said, "Work with me Sorensen." Welch, who had pulled alongside us, was not going to beat us. As crappy as I was feeling I was able to set a great pick for Sorensen, who would go on to finish second. At this point I thought third was between myself and Nick Welch. I like Welch, but I loved my chances.
However, as I approached the three mile mark I heard people cheering a different name than Nick's. I heard, "lets go Jesse." Simply put, this was a nightmare. Jesse Faller ('10), Tufts returning All-American, may not have my gas tank over long distances, but he does have a better kick. In addition to having said kick, he has complete command over it, unlike this guy. So at about 150 he pulls alongide me, and eventually by me. What's funny, is that he thought it was over. I had been dying a slow death the entire last two miles, and he thought there was no way I could respond. Well, for about 2 seconds that made two of us. Then, I started thinking sneak attack. For a split second I held my breath, got on my toes, and attempted to pull alongside. I wasn't crafty enough, as Jesse looked back and did his best Usain Bolt impression. All I needed was one good stride and I could have made it interesting. Instead, it was over, I would finish fourth in a disappointing 16:22.
But, the Alumni romped, and pretty close to my projections too. Matt Fortin ('06) and Brian McNamara ('05) came up huge and we had five inside the top eight. It was truly a dominating performance. There would be no question this year, we deserved the title. Mad props to Matt Lacey who also romped at 15:40, setting a Tufts record (Undergrad & Alumni). Also credit should go out to Dave Sorensen as well, he made up for my bad day out there. In case you were wondering, yeah, we had more dudes too. Chad Uy ('07) was 10th and Aaron Kaye ('05) was 12th. Depth was a huge strength.
Peter Bromka was beaten by Cat Beck.
Overall, I have felt like crap for a few weeks now. There is no mystery, just a little surprise. I really believed that I was strong enough to train through August and still run solid at Alumni Run. I ran solid, but not nearly solid enough. For the last few days I have been reflecting, "maybe I'm just not that good." I mean I never thought I was "that good" but I thought with an elevated summer, maybe I could start getting there. I'm not sure anymore, and that kind of sucks.
The worst part is that this cycle was supposed to be a bridge to my next cycle. I have only been running in the low to mid 80's (in singles) to help bridge the gap to the mid 90's (with a few doubles). But, right now, I haven't been able to do it all. I can't run the miles without doubles, the 20 mile long runs, the harder workouts, and good races all at the same time. Unrealisitic, maybe? Unfortunately, those are my expectations, and now my outlook is filled with more doubt and a look to change it all up completely. I have even had thoughts of focusing on track for the winter. How the **** does that prepare me to qualify for the marathon trials in three years?
In the end I just want feel good and make some progress. With all of the work I have put in since the marathon (yeah I said it), I don't feel progressed. However, I have one card left to play before I completely give up. The one thing I did better than my long runs in prep for the marathon was my taper plan. My father and I put together a researched plan and it worked. So, this weekend he went back to the drawing board and I went back to my logs. As I get ready for this half marathon in Philly, I am starting my rest a week early. The plan also calls for some fast intervals, with less volume in my workouts. It might work great, it might be crap, but we're going to give it a try. At this point, I have nothing to lose.
Recently I discovered that I can copy and paste my log into the blog, so that is what I am going to do. I have cut down the comments, because hey, you don't need to read everything. Unlike my previous posts it works in reverse.
| Week: 17, 08/24 - 08/30 Week Miles: 83, August miles: 376 Top | 83 | |
| Saturday | Alumni run 5k in 16:22 | 11.5 |
| Friday | easy 10 today, felt good, rainy morning run | 10 |
| Thursday | easy run today | 12.5 |
| Wednesday | morning workout, felt ok, still a little sluggish, wish I had more bounce, 16x400 in 69-70 w/ 35 seconds rest, | 11 |
| Tuesday | another easy 10 today | 10 |
| Monday | easy 10 in | 10 |
| Sunday | long run, funny set of circumstances, got to the run late, knew they were heading to Rock Creek, so I hammered all the way till I got to them, took me about 36 minutes, so about 5-6 miles, I was running extremely hard the entire way, then the pace stayed solid throughout the rest of the run | 18 |
2 comments:
oh Bromka...
Nate you should be happy to know that I typed "Tufts Alumni Run" into google and your blog was the first thing to pop up
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